Latest Featured Hunting Articles


	For the Traveling Sportsman Every year thousands of hunters across the continent book outfitted hunts. Some are booked in their home state or province; others require considerable travel by air. For those with the means, exotic trips abroad are a unique privilege. But regardless of where a hunter goes, the research, booking and travel aspects are imminent. Simple or complex, logistics are a part of the game. I've seen it more than once with first time traveling sportsmen.
	Rut Hunting for Pronghorn Antelope We watched for several minutes as the buck raked his horns against the bush. He snorted and thrashed and was obviously in full rut mode. He would occasionally step back for a break then walk stiff legged toward the bush again, waving his head back and forth before launching his renewed assault.
	Campfire Chef Like many kids, I spent most of my warm weather weekends as a youth at a campground with my family. It wasn't exactly "roughing it" but it always seemed like an adventure, except for the food. Apparently there is some secret camper's code that says the only forms of sustenance allowed at a campground are hot dogs, potato chips and fire-blackened marshmallows, because that is what we had just about every time that we went. When I was a kid, I never gave it a second thought.
	Elk Hunting: The Sounds of September Anyone who has ever listened to an elk bugle rise from the bowels of dark timber and ascend toward the painful blue of a Rocky Mountain sky knows that there is no call on this earth more captivating than that of a bull elk. So captivating is the bugle that inexperienced elk hunters can, and do, forget that the bugle is but one piece in the puzzle of hunting elk during the rut. Successfully calling elk requires a genuine understanding of the elk rut, knowledge of all the vocalizations made by elk during the rut and a comprehension of the "other sounds" that elk produce during the rut as a result of preparing to court and breed.
	Field Judging Deer Some might call it buck fever. In my opinion it was just plain misjudgment. Sure, my heart races the same as the next guy when I get a big buck in my crosshairs, but I've usually got it well under control. No, this particular instance was a result of poor judgment and a split decision. Too many variables and too little time, that's what this one was all about. Had I been afforded another 30 seconds to evaluate the buck's antlers, I'm certain my decision to hit the switch would have been stifled.
	When Women Hunt Sophisticates call them the fairer sex. In so many ways this is truer than most of us guys care to admit. Pride aside, I must concede. Historically dominated by men, hunting is an activity now seeing more women entering the ranks than ever before. Few men will say it, but I've witnessed it firsthand. Many women are more patient, less excitable, and yes, sometimes they even shoot better!
	Do You Know Your Tracks? Every game animal leaves its mark; imprints in soft soil, sand or snow. These calling cards reveal a historical presence. New or old, they can be read like a book. Learn to recognize them and you can glean a great deal about the game you're hunting. With practice we cannot only learn to identify the type, size, and sometimes sex of the animal, but also their direction of travel and how old the track is.
	On Edge for Spring Gobblers Edge ecosystems provide a perfect combination of food and cover for both game and non-game species. To most people edge effect is a relatively mundane ecological process; to turkey hunters it is a literal natural wonder. When the birds choose not to gobble, or choose to gobble but not to cooperate, the edge can offer an opportunity to ambush unsuspecting birds as they go about their daily routine.
	Planning a Late Season Cow Elk Hunt Long after most hunters have left the woods and are sitting home watching football bowl games or worrying about paying post-Christmas bills, some lucky hunters are still chasing elk. Several Western states offer late season hunts for antlerless elk that extend into mid-February. Most people's mental image of elk hunting includes sweeping vistas, fall colors and high-pitched bugles. But for hunters who want to extend their season, a different type of elk hunting adventure awaits.
	Bag Your Bird on Opening Day There's nothing more discouraging than arriving at your favorite hunting spot on the opening morning of turkey season, and not being able to get a bird to gobble. That's exactly the situation I found myself in back in April of 2008. The fact that the temperature was hovering right around the freezing mark and there was a heavy frost on the ground probably didn't help matters any. Despite the lack of gobbling activity, I knew from my time preseason scouting that birds frequented this field and it was a popular strutting ground for at least one mature gobbler.
	Find Next Season's Buck Now! Nothing is more depressing to a die-hard deer hunter than watching the sun set on the last day of deer season. Regardless of how good or bad of a season it was, you always wish for one more opportunity to sit in the stand. Unfortunately, all good things must come to an end, and once you've accepted the reality of the season's close, it can be real easy to settle into "rest mode" and wait for turkey season. The truth is, though, there is no better time than now to start preparing for the next deer season.
	Nonresident's Guide to Western Hunting A not-so concise look at the opportunities available to those who have decided to come out West for an elk, deer or antelope hunt and don't know where to start. This won't address bighorn sheep, mountain goats, or moose as those are typically once-in-a-lifetime hunts. This is also designed for DIY hunters, not for those looking for private land or outfitted hunts, as there are various other aspects regarding transferable tags that could also be addressed.
	5 Must-Have Tools for Today's Coyote Hunter Predator hunting is all the rage these days. When most big game seasons cool down, coyote season heats up. Even though these wild dogs are open for the taking year round in many jurisdictions, hardcore predator hunters acknowledge January and February as prime time. Even still, only the most skilled, savvy, and well-equipped hunters learn to score consistently on these small and cagey fur-bearing targets. With today's advancements, predator fanatics learn to equip themselves with five must-have tools: decoys, calls, camouflage, firearms, and good optics.
	Dropping the Hammer If you're a serious gun nut and you haven't noticed the increased interest in shooting, reloading and hunting with old style guns in the last decade you've probably been in a coma. Rifles and shotguns that haven't come out of the closet in eighty years are being brought into the daylight, getting cleaned off and carried out to ranges and hunting fields. This particularly includes classic old lever action and single shot rifles. I haven't been immune from this old-gun bug myself, as an 1894 lever action in .38-55 is one of my current project guns.
	Getting and Keeping Your Kids Involved in Hunting I have accumulated a lot of special memories over the course of my twenty years of hunting. I can still vividly remember the details of my first successful deer hunt, my first turkey, and my first good buck with a bow. But all of these events pale in comparison to watching my eight year-old son squeeze the trigger on his very first deer - a big, mature doe; or watching him harvest his first gobbler this past spring.